Thankyou for your suggestions everybody1 I'm not to concerned about it being a Dai Vernon original effect. I realize I gave that impession. Thankyou for your suggestions all the same!
I find that view to be strange; why wouldn't you do a piece on someone without doing a demonstration of something they created or were known for?
Some of Dai's lesser known moves like the Vernon Reach Around or an enactment of him getting all red-faced when Larry Jennings would show up. . . or better yet, after he'd spent a day with a very young Greg Wilson, teaching him the French Drop only to have daddy-dearest show up and "correct" the lad for not pointing to the hand before making things vanish. . . (I have a ton of Vernon "inside" tales. . . )
Seriously though, the Cups & Balls or Linking Rings would both be appropriate SO LONG AS YOU'RE DOING HIS HANDLING for the sake of delivering an authentic report that host historic validity. Triumph is certainly one of the more awesome bits the professor put out there but one that's a hint under-used is the "One Handed Gambler" routine; it's super strong but leaves them with a twist . . . a dark thought (which is probably why I liked it so much).
Understand, Vernon wasn't some kind of graceful gent such as the establishment wants him to be remembered as; he was a crusty old busker from Coney Island -- a Carney! He was a hard drinking, womanizing old coot so paint him as being human, he'd probably appreciate such a realistic tribute more than all the hot air people love blowing up his skirt.
For research I'd suggest to contact John Carney directly, he took care of Dai for well over half a decade I believe, and was one of Dai's last students. . . he took care of Dai and I took care of Johnny Platt.